SB17-186 Summary

• Redefines "small business" under the State Administrative Procedure Act to mean an entity that is independently owned and operated with fewer than 500 employees OR has gross annual sales less than $6 million.

• Requires state agencies to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis before adopting rules, using a narrower definition of small business (100 or fewer employees) and considering methods to reduce regulatory impact such as less stringent compliance requirements, extended deadlines, simplified reporting, performance standards, or exemptions.

• Mandates agencies to determine rule necessity, identify fiscal impacts, analyze least costly alternatives, and adopt the least costly approach unless written justification is provided for a more costly regulatory approach.

• Requires state agencies proposing rules affecting small businesses to expand outreach and actively solicit representatives of small businesses for participation in representative groups and public hearings, including those without trade associations or lobbyists.

• Establishes a one-stop website location through the Department of Regulatory Agencies for public access to regulatory flexibility analyses and allows small businesses to request cost-benefit analyses if dissatisfied with an agency's regulatory flexibility analysis.

• Appropriates $631,302 in fiscal year 2017-18 across multiple state departments for implementation.